


still ocean eyes

by carricakes



Category: HLVRAI - Fandom, Half-Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware
Genre: Alternate Universe, Confessions, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Not Beta Read, Oneshot, a little ooc? maybe?, bubby's a viperfish, coomer strongman, coomer's a mantis shrimp, i've never written anything so fast in my life, mermaid au, siren au, teen for swearing, these bitches gay. good for them.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:27:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25249153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carricakes/pseuds/carricakes
Summary: anonymous asked:what are some cute dates spots in the abyss, asking for a friend“The brine pools are pretty fucking cool! There’s also a fucking submarine pretty far from the base and I took Coomer there once.”---In which two fish grandpas kiss and Bubby gets a new interest.
Relationships: Bubby/Dr. Coomer (Half-Life)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 55





	still ocean eyes

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Color and Light](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25215274) by [CrackheadMossMan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrackheadMossMan/pseuds/CrackheadMossMan). 



> boomer fans here's ur fish food
> 
> catmint said "bubby reminds coomer of the still ocean" over the discord and I. had to.
> 
> caard for the mer au: https://hlvraimerau.carrd.co/#
> 
> title from "ocean eyes" by billie eilish

Coomer’s laugh was cute.

And, for Bubby, really infuriating when one is trying to ask for a kiss.

Seriously, how could one fucking expect to form a cohesive sentence when Coomer, the shrimp bastard, keeps making those small chuckles that make his bones melt and his photophores glow a little brighter? It’s absolutely agonizing. Bubby loves him, of course, but still.

He’d planned the whole adventure out - Bubby had their “date” down to a science at this point (okay, maybe they weren’t dating yet, but that’s how he referred to it in his mind. Bubby knew what he wanted). Tommy and Darnold had both been understanding about being asked, in so many words, to “fuck off” from the isopod hunting grounds for a while, though Benrey had just smirked and made kissy noises as he retreated to… wherever Benrey ran off to in his free time. G-man didn’t need any forewarning, which was fine by Bubby, because he absolutely refused to explain out loud what he needed the time alone with Coomer for and was sure that the squid would ask if he brought it up. 

So there they were, on their way to the Super Secret Siren Boxing Ring (Coomer’s name for the destroyed ship in the isopod grounds; it just stuck after all the time they spent referencing it in their own conversations), Bubby struggling to focus on Coomer’s excited monologue on the legends of the Still Ocean, what with all the giggling at Bubby’s distracted questions (damn that laugh) and his uncontrollable urge to stare at Coomer’s colors. As they neared the site, the water around them grew brighter, bit by bit, and Coomer’s brilliant reds, blues, and greens only became more and more brilliant with the added light. Bubby couldn’t tear his eyes off of him, and could only stare at his sparkling eyes and gorgeous lower half (the upper half was gorgeous too, don’t get him wrong) as he focused on decreasing his swimming speed to account for Coomer. 

Unfortunately, this often resulted in him not looking  _ where _ he was swimming, and so he nearly swam into a large rock in their way before Coomer grabbed his arm.

“Woah! You had better watch out there, Bubby! You could have gotten hurt!”

Bubby ignored how his heart raced at the touch to grumble, “Thanks.”

“Really, Bubby, I do worry about you sometimes. You need to watch where you’re going!”

_ Well, how am I supposed to pay attention when you look like  _ that?! _ Huh, Dr. Pretty-Eyes?!  _ “I’m fine, thank you very much. You can let go of my arm now.”

Coomer’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, having just realized he was still holding onto Bubby’s arm himself. “Oh. Yes. Apologies for that.” He let Bubby’s arm slip out of his strong grip.

Bubby felt a pang of regret at his tone, but not having to focus on Coomer’s touch right then would help make this next part easier. Still, he needed to restart the conversation somehow - he refused to finish the trip in silence.

“What is it you were talking about- the Still Ocean again?” he asked, attempting to bring back Coomer’s excited energy.

“Ah! Yes! The Still Ocean,” Coomer repeated, catching onto his attempt at levity and leading Bubby around the rock. “I was telling you about the glowing plankton.”

“I’m still not sure if I believe you on that one,” Bubby scoffed. “I’ve never seen  _ that _ much plankton in one place before.”

“But it’s true! My ancestors saw it! The whole thing was filled with them!” Coomer rambled, back to his old enthusiasm. “As far as the eye could see,” he said fondly, as if nostalgic for something he’d admittedly never seen himself.

“Mm. A whole ocean filled with plankton. Sounds exciting.”

“Oh, shush!” Coomer punched him in the arm - not as hard as he could, mind you, but hard enough to sting. 

Bubby rubbed his arm as the derelict ship came into view. As they approached, he took to admiring the overturned rocks and deep slashes his tail had made in the ground, back at their first meeting.  _ Maybe that was overkill, _ he mused.

“They say it was an endless, absolutely calm ocean. No ripples, no waves, no currents. Beautiful,” Coomer continued, sparkling eyes raised up towards the mysterious source of light hovering somewhere above them.

If Bubby was being absolutely honest with himself (which he rarely was), he’d say that he was a little unnerved at the prospect of another whole ocean on top of theirs. Scared, even. The thought of it usually left him in an existential downward spiral, causing him to zone out during Coomer’s long rants on the subject. Suffice to say: Bubby really didn’t like feeling small. It was an admission he’d never make out loud, and sounds embarrassing when one considers that they already live in an endless, unknown ocean. 

But, if it made Coomer happy, he could handle a little existentialism. 

“... it sounds nice,” Bubby muttered, forcing himself to look at the ship and not the soft, hopeful look in Coomer’s eyes as the shrimp turned towards him. He could barely keep his glow down as they were, and Bubby was not going to lose his cool when he was this close to asking his crush out.

_ Fuck,  _ just thinking the word “crush” made him glow a little harder. Damn that shrimp. 

As Bubby slipped inside the ship with ease, helping Coomer through the broken window afterwards. He had to mentally prepare himself to hold Coomer’s hand, forcing himself not to think about his strong grip, his soft skin against Bubby’s.

“So,” Coomer started as his exoskeleton legs hit the floor of the ship, “What did you have in mind this time, Bubby? Some lighthearted roughhousing?” He tapped Bubby’s shoulder with his fist, which still somehow managed to sting. How strong  _ was _ this shrimp?

“No, unfortunately,” Bubby answered. Here we go. “I wanted to… to ask you something.”  _ C’mon, you can do it. _ “Something personal.”

“Oh?” That peaked Coomer’s interest. No backing out now (not that Bubby really wanted to, but he was considering it). 

Bubby sighed. “Well,” He settled his tail against the floor of the ship, and the shrimp settled down beside him. “It’s something I’ve been meaning to say for a while.”  _ Just say you want to kiss him, dumbass. _

“What a coincidence, Bubby! I have something I’d like to tell you too!” Coomer beamed at him. 

Oh. “You can start, if you’d like.”  _ Damnit, you coward. _

Coomer just gave one of his signature smiles (it took Bubby every muscle in his body not to melt at that look) and said, simply, “You reminded me a lot of the Still Ocean, back when I met you.” 

_ Oh.  _ “How so?” Bubby blurted out, unable to control his curiosity and thoroughly surprised. 

“Well,” Coomer breathed out as he nudged closer to the viperfish, “You were both mysterious. I’d never seen anything quite like either of you before. Well, I’ve never seen the Still Ocean, but you know what I mean.”

Bubby was... perplexed to say the least. He didn’t quite know where this was going, but the compliments were definitely well-received - the blush that had dusted his cheeks had spread, and his tail was glowing a frankly embarrassing amount. “Uh huh.”

“What really caught my eye though-” Bubby realized just how close Coomer had become; Coomer was practically radiating heat with a giddy grin, “-was your lights.”

“My photophores,” Bubby corrected blankly, unwillingly glancing between Coomer’s eyes and his lips. “I don’t really see the similarity.”

“Thousands of lights against dark water? I would think the comparison would be obvious.” 

“I don’t have that many lights.”  _ Just lean in already. You can do it.  _

“You didn’t need to.”

Bubby struggled to remember what Coomer had said about the Still Ocean just moments ago. “You- You think I’m-”

“Yes. Beautiful.”

  
And just like that, Coomer closed the distance.

Bubby went almost completely rigid at the touch, taken off guard by the action. HE was supposed to be the one making the first move here. It was soft, hesitant, like Coomer was testing a theory before making a conclusion. The thought made him shiver, but not relax. Fuck, his entire body was frozen in a state of shock at the touch. The scratch of the shrimp’s facial hair against his top lip was almost enough to make him melt, but it did squeeze a small noise out of him that made Coomer’s eyes open, and for him to pull away. Fuck.

Coomer eyed him up and down, taking in his stiff posture and his completely slitted eyes. His expression dropped.

“Oh, Bubby, I apologize.”

_ Oh no. _

“It seems I’ve, er, misread the room. He he.”

_ Oh HELL no. _

“I understand if you don’t feel the same way-”

Bubby moved without thinking, cupping Coomer’s face to cut him off. “Coomer.”

“... Bubby?”

“I-” Bubby stopped himself, his desire to explain himself almost immediately overridden by his overwhelming need to kiss Coomer again. “Shut up.”

“Wha-”

And their lips were touching again. This time was different - Bubby was far more determined and passionate than Coomer was, while also trying very hard not to hurt Coomer with his sharp teeth. Bubby’s tail moved to wrap around Coomer’s lower half, earning a pleased noise from Coomer that nearly broke him. He simply wrapped his arms around Coomer’s neck to deepen the kiss in response. It was a while before they broke apart, not out of breath (they still breathed through their gills) but definitely overwhelmed.

“... not fair,” Bubby managed after a while.

Coomer giggled, quickly returning to his old giddy self. 

“It’s not fair! I was supposed to be the one to kiss you first!”

“Well, you thought wrong, my good bitch!”

That earned a chuckle from Bubby. Coomer’s eyes lit up at the reciprocated joy, and wrapped a strong arm around Bubby’s waist.

“That sure was a weird way to say I love you,” Bubby teased.

“I figured it went without saying,” 

“Mm?”

“You see, I haven’t exactly told anyone else about the Still Ocean as of yet.”   
  


“Oh.” So it was just with him. The warm feeling in his chest flared up a little.

“I kept bringing it up with you because it reminded me of you!”

Bubby really wishes he’d paid more attention to their previous conversations. Damn Coomer and his pretty eyes. 

Suddenly the thought of the Still Ocean didn’t seem as scary. In fact, it made him feel big, for the first time, knowing that that’s what Coomer saw every time he looked at Bubby. Knowing that he held a place in Coomer’s heart during all of his excited ramblings just reminded him of why he’d fallen for the siren in the first place. 

He leaned into Coomer’s touch on his hip, placing his own hand on top of his.

“So, I remind you of the Still Ocean that much, huh?”

“Yes, of course! I’ve been telling you that for a while now!” Coomer exclaimed, sounding exasperated but not mad. 

Bubby rolled his eyes a little. It couldn’t hurt to learn a little more about it, in any case.

“Tell me more.”

**Author's Note:**

> check out "The Ocean Isn't So Scary" if you haven't already
> 
> also!!! "Spring and a Storm" is some very good reverse au stuff. read it or weep.
> 
> idk what else to tell you other than BOOMER RIGHTS.


End file.
